EPA's recently finalized rule regulating renewed uses of asbestos expanded the number of applications subject to regulation but cut some of those applications from a related risk evaluation of existing uses, angering critics who say the agency is further narrowing any future toxics rule on existing uses and shows why a total ban on asbestos is needed.
September 16, 2026
Farmworker advocates are pressing the Trump administration to preserve a provision of the Obama-era rule updating EPA’s farmworker protection standards (WPS) that limits pesticide spraying when bystanders are present, arguing the application exclusion zone (AEZ) is needed to protect nearby workers and bystanders.
Date:
Democratic leaders in the Senate are urging EPA to ban commercial uses of the paint stripper methylene chloride, saying the Trump administration's decision to limit its ban to consumer uses and merely consider requiring additional training for workers using the chemical leaves a vulnerable population at risk.
Date:
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB)is urging EPA to reassess its 26-year-old study on the potential risks from refineries’ accidental releases of hydrofluoric acid (HF), citing two recent refinery fires as highlighting concerns over whether the facilities’ risk management plans (RMPs) are adequate to control unplanned HF releases.
Date:
A National Academies of Sciences (NAS) panel is weighing the Defense Department's (DOD) approach to developing an occupational exposure limit for DOD personnel exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) in the workplace -- an effort the department launched after finding OSHA and EPA exposure limits differed greatly.
Date:
EPA has expanded the number of renewed asbestos uses for which manufacturers would have to seek agency approval though its final significant new use rule (SNUR), issued under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), still falls short of calls from some states and environmentalists for even broader restrictions or a total ban.
Date:
Complicating Trump EPA plans to rollback Obama-era facility safety rules, industry lawyers are warning that the agency faces constitutional challenges over its plan to retain provisions that require companies to hold a public meeting to disclose data on an incident, saying the mandate helps potential plaintiffs and seeks to regulate by “shaming.”
Date:
EPA is floating its rule governing chemical use and other data industry must submit in 2020 under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a measure that include provisions aimed at reducing reporting burdens which industry groups had failed to win when a negotiation collapsed in 2017 in part over an overlap with OSHA.
Date:
Citing EPA’s failure to account for the chemical hazards to which firefighters are exposed, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is sponsoring its own research to study the risks posed by chemicals in the per- and polyfluoroakyl substances (PFAS) class, which were widely used in firefighting foam.
Date:
A National Academies of Sciences (NAS) panel is backing the use of chemical dispersants to address oil spills but is urging federal regulators to improve their oversight of and data collection on the chemicals before the next major spill to ensure that future use of the substances does not adversely impact cleanup workers.
Date: